Dinah, ClinkShrink, & Roy produce Shrink Rap: a blog by Psychiatrists for Psychiatrists. A place to talk; no one has to listen.
All patient vignettes are confabulated; the psychiatrists, however, are mostly real.
--Topics include psychotherapy, humor, depression, bipolar, anxiety, schizophrenia, medications, ethics, psychopharmacology, forensic and correctional psychiatry, psychology, mental health, chocolate, and emotional support ducks. Don't ask. (It's not Shrink Wrap.)

Saturday, February 15, 2014

In case you're interested, I hate to exercise. I mean I really hate it. I do it anyway, in what's hopefully not a misguided belief that this is good for me, but I will be very unhappy if they ever decide that exercise is bad for you, having already devoted so much of my time to something I dislike. In any event, I've asked friends for suggestions for TED talks that I can listen to while I exercise, something to help the time pass as painlessly as possible. I was told to watch Einstein the Parrot, and if you haven't, Einstein was very entertaining, and I'm told I was cackling on the elliptical today. Here is a link for that short and amusing TED talk:

The other TED talk I listened to today was given back in 2001 by surgeon/writer Dr. Sherwin Nuland when he talked about his own experiences with Major Depression, psychiatric hospitalization, and electroshock therapy. I've embedded the talk above, and I hope you find it as moving as I did.

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Hello Dinah, so sorry to hear that you hate exercise...although I'm in a bit of the same boat right now. As a former elite cyclist I loved to run and cycle, and couldn't imagine a day where I wouldn't train. The wake of depressions and manias over the past 15 years have left me not exercising and more out of shape than I ever thought possible. I know fully well that exercise is excellent medicine for depression, however depression is not good for exercise. Although when the bipolar started when I was an athlete, hypomanias were triggered by travel to races, and actually helped my racing. The Olympics on TV now, a doubling of my Abilify dosage, and my psychiatrist's urging have all motivated me to try to run again. I feel terrible, can only manage to walk jog for a short time, but I am trying to carry on knowing that it will get better. The extra weight from medications and no exercise don't help either. But I have found that running and cycling outside are far more rewarding than a treadmill or trainer. I am in Canada so I run in the cold and snow. Proper clothing does wonders, and I'm much more likely to last longer outside than indoors. So maybe you just need to get outside, Dinah!

I watched all three of the TED talks before going out this morning; I enjoyed all three, especially Dr Nuland's talk. I'm much relieved that I have my polypharmacy and that nobody has suggested a prefrontal lobotomy yet! I was struck by his colleagues' lack of appropriate response to his obvious distress when he first became depressed. I was lucky 10 years ago when colleagues pulled me aside and brought me to a psychiatrist when my weight hit 90 lbs and I was barely able to function. However many more said nothing: I could be crying into my mask through surgical cases and nobody would say a word. I think that people truly believe that as physicians we are able to care for ourselves.Thanks again for the great talks (that includes the very talented African Grey)!

I'll check out the parrot talk. Thanks. And I liked the Sherman Nuland talk so much that I read his book, Lost in America. I've enjoyed talks by Dan Ariely:http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions.htmlI like talks by Ben Goldacre, although he speaks really quickly.And Esther Perel's talks about sexuality:http://www.ted.com/talks/esther_perel_the_secret_to_desire_in_a_long_term_relationship.html

I thought she might inspire you, because she looks so fit. I want those muscles!

I was also gonna say that it's all about finding the right exercise. Do what you enjoy and doesn't feel like work You might want to quit on the elliptical and buy some rollerblades. Maybe a hula hoop? A martial arts class will work your whole body and it could be fun for you to spar with people and kick their butts!

During the discussion, she mentioned how she used diet to help cure her multiple sclerosis which had been unresponsive to even the best conventional medical care. Interestingly, she said that supplements stopped the progression but weren't really helpful.

Since I will be having surgery soon, I took extensive notes. Even though I don't have MS, I think her tips would definitely be helpful in my situation and make my recovery easier.

Here is the link to the obituary on Sherwin Nuland:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/us/sherwin-b-nuland-author-who-challenged-concept-of-dignified-death-dies-at-83.html?action=click&module=Search&region=searchResults%230&version=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fquery.nytimes.com%2Fsearch%2Fsitesearch%2F%3Faction%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3DOpinion%26region%3DTopBar%26module%3DSearchSubmit%26pgtype%3DBlogs%23%2Fnuland